Brokenpaw slept happily next to his sister in the apprentice den, where the apprentices slept and stayed to share tongues. It was made up of a hollow rock, as was the leaders den and the warriors den, ivy carefully lining the door and small holes to the outside.
Sun shone through these small windows and the open door at the front. Brokenpaw opened one eye sleepily, awoken by the sun; he stood up, careful not to wake his little sister who was some moons younger than him. He was patiently awaiting his warrior ceremony, which every cat, once worthy, went through to earn their warrior name.
He slipped out of the apprentice den and glanced over at the fresh kill pile, he saw it was low, and went to see if Stealthclaw, his mentor, would take him hunting. He passed Ashpelt, the clan deputy on his way to the warrior den, his grey tabby fur wet. Being very curious, Brokenpaw asked
"Why is your fur wet Ashpelt?"
"Oh, Brokenpaw," he responded, a hint of triumph in his voice, "I was hunting fish in the stream," he puffed out his chest, looking pleased with himself.
Brokenpaw glanced once more over at the fresh kill pile and saw bits of scales, it was also a bit damp than usual. He smiled at how foolish Ashpelt looked puffing out his chest, his eyes closed with happiness. Then Brokenpaw remembered what he was doing.
"I must go Ashpelt; I'd like to go hunting with Stealthclaw"
Ashpelt opened his eyes, and became deputy-like and serious again, he nodded curtly and walked off, but Brokenpaw could see that he was light footed and still proud of himself.
He quickly made his way to the warrior den and poked his head inside. He scanned the moss sleeping places, and spotted Stealthclaw sharing tongues with Bearheart. Her dark brown fur patchy because of a sickness that had hit her recently, however she was quickly recovering.
"Stealthclaw," Brokenpaw mewed, embarrassed to be breaking up mates, "I'd like to go hunting…" he trailed off, his face beginning to redden with embarrassment.
Stealthclaw stood up and said farewell to Bearheart and came up next to Brokenpaw.
"Very well Brokenpaw, we shall go hunting near the Stream, Ashpelt has reported many fish, water voles and other prey there."
Stealthclaw spoke with a voice of no tone and emotion, the only time Brokenpaw has seen him happy, sad or worried was when it was about Bearheart. Brokenpaw padded in time with Stealthclaw as they walked, his black and white tabby fur was very well groomed and sleek, in fact, Stealthclaw often acted like the deputy, Emeraldstar being a close friend of his and all, he was also often accepted as deputy. Brokenpaw sighed silently.
Once they had reached the stream, Brokenpaw scented a rabbit immediately even though it was rare that rabbits went to the stream, he crouched low in a hunting crouch, practising his rabbit hunting technique. He saw it at the edge of the stream, which looked more like a river at this time of Greenleaf. He pounced, and took it out in one blow.
Just now he realised how hungry he was and his mouth watered at the scent of fresh kill. But he knew the elders and other clan members had to be fed first.
"Good work," praised Stealthclaw, already covering his rabbit with dirt to collect later. Brokenpaw could tell he had no compassion for his apprentice, because all his praises were emotionless and cold.
Just then, Brokenpaw scented something new, it was strange, but he knew it was a creature.
"Bear!" cried Stealthclaw; his face was that of pure horror. Without thinking of Brokenpaw, he ran as fast as he could and vanished in the dense bushes that lead back to camp.
Brokenpaw had heard myths of bears; they were huge, bigger than a shiny Twoleg monster. They had huge paws, with claws bigger than bramble branches. Their teeth were as sharp as chipped rocks.
Suddenly very panicked, Brokenpaw looked around nervously, his heart beating unbelievably fast. The moment he caught a glimpse of a huge mound of brown fur, he pounced on the huge mound, causing it to rise, and let out a deafening roar that shook the trees.
Brokenpaw flew through the air and smashed against a huge birch tree. He immediately wanted to protect his sister and his clan, so once more he lunged at the bear. This at it's now exposed face. Its beady eyes stared at the attacking cat.
Brokenpaw tore his claws through the bear's eyes and nose, causing another roar, this one louder, and once more Brokenpaw was pushed off by the bear's massive paws.
The bear swung a paw at the cat, slashing his grey fur slightly. Despite his injury, he jumped on the bears back a raked his claws down it. After jumping off quickly, the bear let out a pained roar and retreated. It shook the ground as it ran.
Just then Emeraldstar burst through the bushes with Stealthclaw and Ashpelt at her side.
"Where's the bear?!" she looked around anxiously.
"I beat it. It retreated toward Bloodclan territory." Brokenpaw stated proudly. Emeraldstar looked around the blood and brown and grey fur that scattered the battleground, and then to where the trail lead, as Brokenpaw said, Bloodclan territory.
Suddenly, Emeraldstar let out a sigh of relief but then suddenly looked at Stealthclaw, obviously furious. "You left an apprentice alone with a bear!? A full grown bear!?"
Stealthclaw still sat emotionless as he did most days, he didn't even flinch. "I panicked, and just acted, HE was meant to follow me." He snorted, showing slight hostility towards Brokenpaw.
Just then, Emeraldstar gasped and looked at Brokenpaw, "Y-your eye Brokenpaw!"
Chapter One and a half: Different CatsBrokenpaw had only just realised the bear had cut down his right eye, it bled slightly however he could see fine, and it didn't hurt.
"Come on, you have to see Blackspirit," Emeraldstar said hastily, kneading her paws into the soft soil beneath her feet. So they hurried back to the camp, and Brokenpaw was sent to Blackspirit, without any praise for taking down a bear.
"You'll be just fine Brokenpaw." She told him, gently dabbing a wad of cobwebs to stop the cut from bleeding anymore.
"How did this happen anyway?" she asked curiously,
"I fought a bear, and he scratched my eye." He replied simply,
"My goodness, that's terrible!" she replied suddenly checking him for more wounds, "Did you run from it?" she asked suddenly worried.
"No, it fled, because I scratched its eye so it couldn't see me."
She let out a sigh of relief, "Well good for you then!" she cried, suddenly relaxed again.
Brokenpaw, very tired from fighting, slumped over to the apprentice den, when he caught a smell of someone from Bloodclan, the clan that had terrorised Emeraldclan countless times, however their old leader Darkstar died of Red Fever; the worst type of sickness to get.
He couldn't name who it was until Emeraldstar shouted it; "Grizzlystar!"
He turned to see a huge dark brown tabby tom, with three claw mark scars across his face, not affecting his eyesight at all. He looked strong and proud; Brokenpaw wondered why he was here.
"Emeraldstar, may I speak with you?" he asked nicely, despite his terrifying looks.
She nodded and they walked off into the forest. Brokenpaw simply
Lied down in the apprentice den, and soon found himself in a very dark clearing, in a forest he didn't recognise at all.
There was a huge tabby tom on the other side of the clearing, he looked similar
To Grizzlystar, but he didn't have any scars, not that he saw, until he turned to face Brokenpaw. He saw he had a huge scar above his nose. To Brokenpaw's surprise, he padded over to him.
"Who are you?" he asked, roughly in a very dark tone.
"Brokenpaw, you?" he said questioningly,
"Tigerstar,"